Monday, 19 April 2010

Here is the other prototype I have been working on that I mentioned recently: a prototype hairband/fascinator:

I've found this particularly difficult to take photos of!

It's a gunmetal grey hairband, with two circles of beaded and embroidered felt in pinks, purples and blues with a hint of yellow.

The felt pieces have a wee 'sleeve' of felt sewn to their back so that the hairband can slide in and out - meaning that it can be worn on either side of the head and with the larger circle top or bottom.

Here it is in situ, modelled by my friend Rachael and her beautiful hair :D :

(thanks Rach!)

I'm quite liking this hairband idea - but have found it so difficult to photograph well that it almost puts me off making any more! I have other ideas for different shapes to try out though, so I think I'll persevere :)

Friday, 9 April 2010

So here is the result of one of my recent projects: an experimental fibre brooch - this one is made from the raw materials in the first photo in my previous post.

My aim with these brooches was to explore making something less 'tidy' and more freestyle. Fibres feel so good to touch I quite like having the edges left raw and fraying, and to be able to watch them wear over time. I made the brooch by layering cotton fabric, fibres (silk hankie fibre and cotton nepps), cotton scrim and mixed threads. I held them together with 'magic film' and then machine embroidered over the top to trap them in place.

Here are some others that I made:

They all measure about 6cm x 6cm ish.

I'm not totally sure what I think about them, to be honest. I like being able to feel the raw edges of the fibres but I'm so used to having neat edges, having a more freestyle look like this takes a bit of getting used to! Maybe the idea is good but I need to develop it a bit. I made more prototypes than this, but the 'magic film' malfunctioned a bit and they had to be abandoned (the magic film gets trapped by the machine embroidery and then you iron the piece, which is meant to make the film evaporate - but if you don't do it right it just goes sticky and that is disastrous!) - so before I try to develop the idea further I think I'll try an alternative - maybe Solvy.